If you've read our Boston Acoustics BA635 review,
you'll have read that Boston Acoustics is very well known for home
audio and car audio systems. In fact, they make some of the best systems we've
ever seen. One thing that strikes us about Boston Acoustics is that their
designs are unique and very refreshing, their designs aren't the regular run of the mill
speakers rectangular speakers. Every product they produce has a very apparent sense of quality and
attention to detail. The BA635 speaker set was the smallest set of speakers
we've seen, yet they sound great and look amazing on your desktop. Now
we'll take a look at something a little more powerful from Boston Acoustics.
In this review, we'll be taking a look at the 3-piece MediaTheater™
speaker system. This
set is currently the highest-end computer audio system which Boston Acoustics
offers. In saying that, they are also quite expensive at $249 USD, so they aren't aimed for the casual user but
instead those who want to set up a truly
high end computer audio system. The 3-piece speaker set boasts a very nice
feature set, here is a list for your convenience:
- Frequency Response (±3dB) 50 - 20,000Hz
- Maximum Sound Pressure Level 105dB at typical
listening position
- Crossover Frequency 160Hz
- Subwoofer 6-1/2" (165mm)
- Satellites 3 1/2" (89mm)
- Dimensions (HxWxD)
Subwoofer 11-3/4" x 7 x 14-5/8" (299 x 178 x 372mm)
Satellite 4-3/4" x 4 1/8" x 4-3/4" (121 x 105 x 121mm)
- Weight Subwoofer 7 lbs. (3kg) Satellite
1 lb. (0.4kg)
- Finish Computer gray
- Controls Volume, surround and subwoofer levels on
satellite
- Accessories Speaker cables and pedestal desk stands
- Dolby® Pro
Logic®
and Dolby Virtual Surround
- MagnaGuard® magnetic shielding
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First of all, let me point out (for all you
bass fanatics) that this subwoofer weighs 7 pounds! With its built in Pro
Logic decoder, DSP processor, 18-bit DAC/ADC converters and heavy duty enclosure, you can tell this sub is going shake your
pants off! It has a 6 1/2" bass driver in a dual chamber bandpass
enclosure. It also has a vented chamber to concentrate the output in the
low bass region and its large port is flared at both ends to eliminate audible
turbulence. Also, note the 105 decibels of sound
pressure these speakers emit This system should have no problem problem filling a
large room without any distortion!
The satellites (with 3 1/2" cones) are quite
a bit larger than the BA-635's, but still a good size to fit on most
desktops. The satellite cones are made of high-impact injection-molded ABS
plastic which are able to produce 7 full octaves of high and mid-range
frequencies. According to BA, this material was chosen because of its
strength and favorable acoustic characteristics. Overall, both the sub and
satellites are very attractive looking and unique in design. Boston Acoustics included a nice set of angled stands for the
speakers. The nice thing about these stands is that they are angled directly to
your head (if your desk is at a normal level). Also they are made of rigid
metal and suspend the speaker from behind, I suspect that doing it in
this way reduces vibrations that can occur when the speaker sits directly on a
surface. The stand acts as a sort of spring which absorbs vibrations
before reaching the desk surface.
The controls on the speakers are second to none. There
are three large dials on the right satellite, one for volume, one for surround
level and one for subwoofer volume. I'm glad to see they put the subwoofer
controls on the satellite instead of placing it on the back of the sub like some
other speaker sets. All three dials turn approximately 270 degrees in
total so you have none of that merry-go-round effect. If you turn the
volume knob all the way down past the click, the speakers shut off
completely. Also, there is a headphone jack on the right satellite which
is a very welcome addition. How many times have you tried using headphones
but they didn't reach to the back of your computer case? When you plug in
headphones, the speaker automatically shut themselves off. As I've said
before, their attention to detail is amazing, they placed the headphone jack in
a conspicuous place on the right side of the satellite so it didn't intrude on
the appearance of the speaker itself.
This set has a few other interesting features. First of
all, it has both Dolby Pro Logic decoding and Dolby Virtual Surround decoding
built into the sub. So if you have any DVD's or games that support this
algorithm,
then you're in for some great sound. This is how it works, the Pro Logic
decoder converts the 2-channel stereo signal into 4 discrete channels. It
then computes the virtual surround for the simulated rear speakers and sends
that to the front speakers. Virtual Dolby Surround then helps create the feeling
of a full 5 speaker system by electronically generating the center
channel. It then applies a technique called HRTF (Head Related Transfer
Function) to simulate the sound coming from the rear. Of course it would
have been nice if it had Dolby
Digital (AC-3) decoding, but unfortunately AC-3 decoders are tad too expensive
right now to include in a speaker set without raising the price even more.
Nevertheless, this is the best implementation of surround sound I've ever seen
in a 2-speaker system.
Boston Acoustics has also added a neat little feature which allows you to test the
Dolby Virtual Surround/Dolby Pro Logic. When you turn the subwoofer knob
all the way down (past the click), the speakers will go into a test mode just
like your home theatre system does. It will play a static type of sound
through the left, center, right and surround channels. We'll discuss our
experience with the surround channels in the audio performance section of this
review on the next page.
Lastly, Boston Acoustics also has an optional surround speaker
add-on which retails for $99 USD. There is a plug built-in to the
sub for this addition and when you plug it in, the set switches to full Dolby
Pro Logic mode (with 4 speakers and a subwoofer).
The only tough part of
the installation was carrying the heavy sub and setting it down on
the floor without breaking my back! :) Other than that,
installation was very simple. Boston Acoustics provides very long
cables for a wide variety of placements. My speakers are about
6 feet apart and 5 feet away from the subwoofer. It's also
worth a mention, that the wires used are quite thick and of very
high quality. Boston Acoustics uses special connectors on the
ends of the speakers instead of 3 1/2" stereo plugs which can
reduce audio fidelity.
The back of the
subwoofer is very nicely labeled with full color-coded connections
and insulated inputs. They included a nice manual which
outlines the sets specifications and provides instructions for the
proper installation and care for the set. After hooking it all up, I plugged it
into my Diamond Monster Sound MX300 and got ready to fire them up!
